Sunday, April 19, 2015

1980 Week: Saturn 3

One of the strangest
projects to emerge from the post-Star
Wars sci-fi boom, this British production featuring American leading actors
is part adventure saga, part horror show, part love story, and part mystery
thriller. It also features one of the most unlikely combinations of stars in
movie history: Aging he-man Kirk Douglas shares the screen with sun-kissed TV
beauty Farrah Fawcett and New York-trained Method actor Harvey Keitel. That is,
unless one counts the hulking robot who features prominently in the story as a
costar. Set in the future, the picture begins when a mystery man kills a fellow
space pilot in order to commander a shuttle delivering supplies to a scientific
outpost on one of Saturn’s moons. The sole occupants of the outpost are Adam
(Douglas), who is tasked with growing crops because Earth can no longer
manufacture sufficient food, and Adam’s assistant/lover, Alex (Fawcett). Her
origins are never made clear, though the implication is that she was provided
to Adam as a sexual plaything. When the mystery man arrives, he reveals himself
as Benson (Keitel), and says that his mission is to build a robot that can
increase productivity at Saturn 3 (the name of the outpost).

Adam and Alex are
rattled by the change to their status quo, since they dig their quiet life—and
who can blame them, since they seem to spend more time changing costumes and
having sex than they do conducting experiments. Eventually, Adam and Alex
realize that Benson is a psycho. Their first clue is when Benson jabs a
metallic probe into a slot that he’s installed in the back of his neck, and
uses it to psychically control the robot. Benson causes even more trouble when
he announces his desire to sleep with Alex. Before long, things devolve into
full-on violence once the robot gains a degree of autonomy, so Adam and Alex
have to deal with two predators at once.

Unlikely as it may seem, Saturn 3 was directed by Stanley Donen
of Singin’ in the Rain fame, and to
say that he’s got no feel for horror and/or sci-fi is to make a great
understatement. Although certain individual scenes are handled well enough,
including the introduction of Benson’s psychic link with the robot and a
lengthy chase sequence, Donen fails to generate credibility or tension. Things
in Saturn 3 just sort of happen, and
Donen seems far more concerned with showing off the film’s elaborate production
design than with telling a proper story. (Incredibly, the script was penned by
acclaimed British novelist Martin Amis.) It doesn’t help that the acting is
awful or that impatient editing rushes the story along at a distractingly
frenetic pace.

Douglas was well into the self-parody phase of his career,
Fawcett seems as if she was lobotomized before filming, and Keitel—whose voice
was replaced with that of another actor during postproduction—gives a more
robotic performance than the actual robot. Nonetheless, fans of vintage sci-fi
will find many things to enjoy, thanks to the colorful visuals and the
surprising incidents of extreme violence. Plus, seeing as how the story
ultimately becomes completely nonsensical, it’s possible to watch Saturn 3 as an accidental comedy. (There’s
a reason why the picture earned three Razzie Award nominations.) Oh, and for
those who fall under Saturn 3’s weird
spell—or for those who simply crave another chance to ogle the lovely Ms.
Fawcett—it’s worth surfing the Web for an infamous deleted scene featuring
Douglas and Fawcett simulating a sexy drug trip, because Douglas’ goofy acting
is as stunning as Fawcett’s slutty costume.